PROFITING FROM ESG

INITIALLY DRIVEN BY REGULATORY COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS, BUSINESSES ARE INCREASINGLY VIEWING ESG AS A TOOL TO ENHANCE PROFITABILITY. BUT THERE IS STILL A LONG WAY TO GO

- NIDHI SINGAL

ULTIMATELY, IT ALL boils down to profit. Today’s business landscape goes beyond profit to emphasise how companies impact the planet and people; at the same time, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria guide businesses to make sustainable and profitable decisions. India Inc. has realised that sustainable practices like ESG can indeed be good for business. A recent SAP Sustainability Survey reveals that 77% of Indian businesses saw sustainability strategies contributing to revenue or profit growth to a moderate or strong degree, while 39% of those surveyed are planning to increase investment in sustainability in the next three years (see graphic ‘Towards a Sustainable Future’).

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has been pushing listed firms to furnish detailed ESG reports since 2012; from FY23, the Top 1,000 listed companies by market capitalisation are mandated to provide detailed ESG reports under Sebi’s Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) framework. It also introduced the BRSR Core framework under which companies had to report about their supply chain as well. The Top 250 firms by market cap will have to compile supply chain ESG data in FY25.

However, some large Indian companies have been voluntarily reporting their ESG performance long before Sebi’s mandate. Take, for instance, biscuits major Britannia Industries. “Building upon over a decade of sustainability efforts, we formalised our ESG initiatives starting from FY21,” says CEO & ED Rajneet Kohli. The company also participates in global ESG ratings like the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.